For those who consider that it is mere fiction to consider mysterious deaths of tourists in exotic resorts, all they need to do is follow the crime news to see how accurate Mike White is in his sociocultural analysis of Americans traveling abroad. Whether in Hawaii, Italy, or Thailand, drama and embarrassment are guaranteed. And in the third season of The White Lotus, one Sunday from its conclusion, we are all betting heavily that Saxon will be the fatal victim this time. Is that really true?

The series’ passionate fans agree that it has not exactly been an exciting season, even with so much happening and interesting characters on screen. It has dragged on a bit, it has no consequences, and it is confusing. Who cares? I do not completely agree with these criticisms, but I do agree that it has not been a very insightful stage for the hotel chain. We will have another one ahead, still in an undefined location (probably Europe) so certainly some of the plots will remain unresolved. Let’s take a quick look at the penultimate episode?

A tense and dangerous night in Thailand

If the Full Moon party put everyone in check two weeks ago, the hangover would have been long. Preparing for the final fight (with not-so-subtle images permeating all the action), each one is on one side of the ring.

The Gaitok and Mook plot is for now the least interesting, but it promises to be the “surprise” in episode 8. Gaitok is a sweetheart and for that reason incompetent for the security role at the White Lotus. He gets distracted easily, doesn’t confront anyone, and is against unleashing his killer instinct, something that Mook has been gently insisting he do. Why? It still doesn’t make any sense. We know that Gaitok is a natural shooter, that he recovered the revolver, and that he has already identified the Russian gang that robbed the hotel. He also knows that Tim is planning something dangerous. No one doubts that one of the shots will be fired by him, but I bet on his survival and even heroism at the end of the season. As for Mook? You can go and get lost, what a boring woman with a bad influence!

In Bangkok, Rick and Frank, a (nearly) sharp duo, put Rick’s life plan into action to confront his father’s (probable) killer. He gets stuck, and doesn’t act right away, leaving Frank to improvise in his conversation with Sritala and thus on the slippage of going back to drinking (Sam Rockwell is always spectacular!), but eventually Rick manages to have a moment alone with Jim Hollinger and say what he wanted, but he doesn’t manage to kill or hurt him like in the original plan. There is the obvious embarrassment of Jim actually being Rick’s father, something we already caught in the 1st episode and which was heavily implied by Jim’s lack of reaction when Rick tells him his story.

That said: in the trailer for the season finale we see Jim and Sritala arriving at the hotel, with their violent security guards. At the same time, they also show Rick and Chelsea’s romantic reunion on the beach. Unfortunately, I tend to agree with the Internet that at the moment Rick seems to be one of the strongest candidates for the plastic bag because even though he is Jim’s son, his “father” was a man without scruples his whole life, the fact that he is old does not take away his evil. He can send his henchmen to deal with Rick (there is an exchange of gunfire before the body appears floating in the lake), and we have to recognize that finding inner peace could mean the end of Rick’s journey. I would regret it, but it is a strong possibility.

Of course, the three blonde and rich friends would have a hard time after a week of mutual lies. Truths are exchanged between them without any protection, with Laurie being isolated when it comes to criticizing Jaclyn when Kate supports the actress. Jaclyn no longer minds lying about her night out, she just has no empathy for Laurie’s irritation when she accuses her of being selfish and vain. “I’m used to being the villain,” she shrugs to Kate when they’re alone and her friend kind of tries to ease the situation for Laurie. Let’s face it, we’ve yet to see Kate explode…

Laurie decides to defy her friends and herself and embarks on a dangerous night with the Russians, spending the night with Aleksei and feeling great about it. However, he soon asks for money, and the only thing that doesn’t get worse – believe it or not – is because they’re interrupted by his girlfriend. Laurie has to escape through the window and before the embarrassment can be completed, she sees the stolen jewels from the White Lotus in her lover’s room. Now she knows that the Russians are bandits, that they have access to their hotel room, and that they really are after their money. We don’t know how she’s going to warn her friends because from the trailer she’s still hungover and scared to tell them about her night of adventures watching Jaclyn and Kate from afar. What will Laurie do? I fear for her.

Laurie is still on the list of possible victims. The Russians will certainly enter the White Lotus armed to rob their friends and will resort to violence. One of them may Are they caught in the crossfire or, who knows, Laurie kind of helps them get revenge on Jaclyn and everything goes wrong? The confrontation will certainly take place in their bungalow.

On the Ratliffs’ side, tragedy is in the making. Tim, drugged, is only contemplating suicide and now, murder. Since Piper and Lochlan have expressed their desire to embrace a simple life at the Buddhist retreat (which they are already rethinking), he has heard so much from the unsuspecting Saxon and Victoria that they would rather die than be poor or embarrassed, so he is considering “helping” them avoid what is coming.

Victoria’s prayers have paid off because we see that Piper is scared when Lochlan, traumatized by what he did on the night of the Full Moon, wants to drop out of school and hide in Thailand. She doesn’t want her brother to make a bad decision and starts to see the poverty of the place with different eyes. At the hotel, Saxon, equally shaken from the night out, still gets on top of Chelsea and shows us a more vulnerable side because he was sad when he heard he had no soul. Suddenly he makes all the right choices: he refuses to go along with Chloe and Gary/Greg’s supposed sexual fantasy, confronts his father about what’s going on in the business, and asks Chelsea to teach him how to meditate. A case of too little too late? It seems so.

In the final trailer, we see Tim, who now that he no longer has the revolver, ask about the poisonous fruit that is in abundance in the hotel, which comes from the “suicide tree” and which he clearly puts in the shake that Saxon prepares every morning. We don’t know how he’s going to convince Victoria to take the smoothie, but Saxon will only be saved by a miracle. Today he’s the surest bet to die this season. To make matters worse, his shirt in the trailer is pink. Understand my theory by reading the other post…

And we come to Greg/Gary and Belinda, who have united all the seasons so far. Since we still have a fourth season, I suspect that our psychopathic antagonist will survive. Even more so Jon Gries has already given us a hint by alerting his two sources of inspiration for the character, whom he considers a sociopathic profiteer who is always alert and has alternative plans to get away with it.

Greg/Gary comes clean with Belinda, omitting information that only we know. He insists that he is innocent of Tanya’s accidental death. As far as we know, no one, not even Portia, knows about his connection to Quentin, unless the Italian police found the photo of Greg/Gary with the murdered Englishman. Apparently, Tanya never told Portia that Quentin dated a straight cowboy in his youth, much less that she suspected it was Greg. Portia knows that there was a plot to murder her boss, from which she barely escaped with her life because Jack freed her, but there is nothing to prove Greg’s involvement in the scheme.

By trying to bribe Belinda, Greg/Gary removes any doubts from us, of course. But Belinda, with courage, asks for some time to consider the proposal, which is obviously a refusal. To our surprise, Zion is less honest and considers it practical to accept: to survive and get rich. Poor Belinda.

There is no doubt that Greg/Gary will try to kill her. Will he succeed? I hope she leaves the pink clothes in the closet.

Lastly, I don’t understand the image of Frank stabbing a doll. Where does this happen? Why? Does he come to the White Lotus to confront or help Rick? Fear!

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